


All we needed.

by orphan_account



Category: 5 Seconds of Summer (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Art School, Alternate Universe - High School, Childhood Friends, Flashbacks, Friends to Lovers, M/M, More tags to be added, Multi, Secret Relationship, Slow Build
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-02-12
Updated: 2016-02-23
Packaged: 2018-05-19 21:43:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,676
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5981866
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Since its opening in the sixties, Harmony School for Talented Individuals had become one of the leading private art schools in the state of California, maybe even the nation. Since becoming the principal's son, Ashton was the most popular person in his class, maybe even the whole school. Being the golden boy, however, leaves Ashton blind to a lot of the little white lies building up around him. It takes a step into the shadows to see just how much he hasn't.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

_ Peace will find us with harmony.  _

 

Those words were etched in Ashton's brain for as long as he could remember. They made up the motto of The Harmony School for Talented Individuals, a private arts school that had been around since 1964. The motto was the main feature of a mosaic that covered the whole left side of the blue slate building - huge bay windows of the actual art rooms of the school featured all along it, the motto curving around the Windows and framing it as if to say that is where the peace could be found - in art. 

Ashton remembered being as young as five years old and climbing onto the kitchen counter to peer out the window of their apartment to look at the mosaic, looking in on the going-ons of the art classes. He would sit there for hours, legs folded under him, and try to count all the tiny colored glass tiles that made up the intricate designs of the mosaic. It was like trying to count the stars at night.

It was interesting to live on a campus for big kids. All of the main staff were provided with on-campus apartments, giving the young boy exclusive access to ample people-watching opportunities as he dreamed of being one of them someday soon, as his mom had promised he would be. Among the main staff was Ashton’s mother, who had been head of the English Language Arts department since before her son was even a thought. Overall, Ashton's childhood had been nothing short of wonderful. His mother did everything she could for Ashton, from spending all of her free time with him to filling a majority of the wall space in their living room with all of Ashton's artworks. She only ever wanted the best for her boy. Sometimes she found herself spoiling Ashton a bit too much, but in her mind it was justified - it made up for only having one parent.

Somehow, in the extremely busy time that Ashton was still very young and dependent, she’d managed to complete her master’s degree and around the time Ashton was ten years old she was promoted to head principal of Harmony - something she had only dreamed of achieving since she’d received a poetry scholarship to the very same school at sixteen. Ashton was nearly just as elated - , it was the best news he'd heard in his young life. Not only would he be transferring to Harmony in two short years; he'd be entering in as the principal’s son. Even better, most of the friends he’d made and grown up with at Holly Grove -  the sister school to Harmony that catered to the elementary grades - would likely be transferring along with him. Not only that, but there would be a whole pool of kids that none of them had ever met from the surrounding area public schools. As one of the leading schools of the arts in California, Harmony was infamous for giving out tons of scholarships to promising students that applied for them. Thankfully, unlike his mom before him, that was one thing Ashton never had to worry about.

Once Ashton became “the new principal’s son”, he found himself being able to sneak into the grounds of Harmony more and more often. He enjoyed discovering all the hidden gems of the old campus. Somehow, all of the teachers found the young boy genuinely charming and wouldn’t blink twice when they found the young boy in their classrooms once the elementary school day had finished.  It was during one of these little excursions to “the big school” that Ashton met Calum Hood, the son of Mr. Hood, the biochem teacher. They’d spend hours laying on the periodic table - printed rug in the bag of Mr. Hood’s classroom while he’d graded papers, playing astronauts. 

Ashton was a leader from the beginning, dragging an only half-reluctant Calum everywhere from splashing in the fountain to climbing on sculptures in the quad after the school was closed for the night. Ashton’s mom always seemed to get them out of trouble. Once, when a security guard had chased the two young boys off the school grounds and into the dorm area, she'd opened the front door and let them make their escape - giggling into her hands until she could compose herself and give the two a lecture. 

Other times, it was simply their charming natures that made up for their mischief. By the time Ashton was 12 and preparing to transfer to Harmony once the summer was over, he was adored by most of the teachers, popular among his class peers, and he had his partner in crime. He was set up to be the school’s new golden boy, for a while at least. 

  
However, fate had a funny way of putting someone into your life the minute you weren’t looking for them. For Ashton, he would try to fight it like hell. But fate had another funny way; it always managed to win.


	2. Chapter 2

When Ashton's alarm went off on his phone, he instantly pressed the on-screen option to snooze, because he really needed just five more minutes. He was totally unaware that it was the fourth time that morning.

For a moment, it was silent in his room and he began drifting back into unawareness when he felt a dip in the bed and then a heavy weight on his back, pressing him uncomfortably into the mattress and squishing his face into the pillows.

“Ashton, darling, wake up now,” Calum sing-songed, loudly and right in Ashton's ear. “It's your very first day of your junior year, don't want to miss anything now do we?” He added, his voice growing even more high-pitched and annoying as he spoke. 

“Get off me,” Ashton grumbled, rolling on his side until Calum plopped down beside him on the bed. 

They stayed silent for a minute before Ashton's phone beeped with the arrival of a text. He knew it was probably his mom asking if he was up and heading to class. 

“Oooh, It's Cassidy. Wants to meet you before class, but at the rate you're going my friend you're going to make her late for first period, and you know how Cassidy gets when you make her late,” Calum wondered aloud. 

Ashton sat up at that, rubbing his face to try and wake up quicker. It was a rare occasion as of late that he and his girlfriend weren't somewhere between nagging each other over the little things (like being late to class) or Ross from Friends yelling “we were on a break!” (Something Cassidy loved to say whenever confronted about hooking up with other guys whenever she and Ashton were on said “break”). 

Ashton knew Calum wasn't very fond of Cassidy and had told his best friend more than once that he deserved better. But Ashton just couldn't do that - Cassidy was his first, and he had promised he wouldn't hurt her. Besides, Cassidy was a senior this year, and she had been stressed all summer getting her college applications ready to turn in on the first possible day. Once the stress of that was passed, Ashton knew they would be back on track. At least that's what he told himself. 

Ashton took his phone from Calum and pushed his unruly waves back so he could read what Cass had really said. 

Instead of seeing “Cass” with a crown and a heart emoji on his lock screen though, he read “Calum” with a frog emoji. As for the message - it was just a poop emoji. 

“Oh fuck off.” Ashton laughed, pushing at Calum's shoulder. Calum grinned and feigned innocence, laying back on the pillows with his arms behind his head. 

“Fine, I'm up now, got what you wanted.” Ashton grumbled as he climbed over Calum and his feet hit the cold, unforgiving floor. He grabbed some clothes out of his closet and made his way to the bathroom to take the quickest shower of his life. 

When he returns from the bathroom he's fully dressed, his hair still damp from just drying it with a towel. By the time he got to class it would be dry. 

Calum was still on his bed, his focus so set on texting away that he barely registered Ashton was out of the shower and getting his backpack together until he spoke up. 

“Come on Calum, get off tumblr so you won't be late to your very first day of sophomore year,” Ashton sing-songed, just as the other boy had done to him. 

Calum smirked and locked his screen, getting up to join Ashton. Back in the good old days, Ashton's mom would have breakfast ready downstairs when Ashton woke up, but when she became head principal she slowly stopped, and by that time Ashton was old enough to find his own breakfast. Besides, there were weekday breakfast traditions to uphold, and the two boys made their way naturally in the direction of the food. 

They took the stairs down to the parking lot, and once they'd crossed it they were just yards away from school. They made a quick stop to Rita's, a little cafe that was actually owned by a woman named Rosie. Rita was her wife, and could barely make a grilled cheese without burning it, so it was ironic that one of the best Cafes in town was named in her honor. 

They'd been going to Rita's for years, it was almost a rite of passage when transferring into Harmony, using your allowance money to buy breakfast wraps or bagels before class. 

Rosie was at the counter and greeted them with a smile and breakfast wrap in each hand, already knowing what the two familiar faces were there for. 

“Big important day today, boys.” She said kindly as Calum handed her a few bucks for the food. That was what she said every year on the first day of school, and Ashton smiled softly at the tradition. 

They each gave Rosie a hug over the counter (for luck, she said) and went on their way with their semi-nutritious breakfast. They ate as they walked along the path that lead up to the front entrance. They passed along the mosaic wall, Ashton tapping it fondly as they rounded the corner that lead into the main courtyard. It was where most of the students lingered before and after school, and the preferred outdoor lunch area. 

There were large circular tables dotted all along the grassy area, and the two boys sat down at one of them, greeting their friend Mitchie and her twin sister Savannah. Both the twins were petite with dirty blonde hair and tan from spending the majority of the summer at their family beach house. Mitchie and Ashton had become close friends when they had the same music appreciation course last year, bonding over both identifying as bisexual and the fact that they were both drummers. As for Savannah, she may as well have been ripped from a 70s fashion advert; from wearing her hair straight down to her hips to the flowy floral print she seemed to own in every color and pattern, she was a true flower child. It was strange then, that her main interest was the harp. 

They were seated next to their cousin from Australia, Luke, who had transferred to harmony last spring when he moved to the states. He was only a freshman this year, but due to hanging around his older cousins, he was easily recognized by upperclassman such as Ashton. 

“Hey guys,” Mitchie greeted them as they took seats at the table. 

“Hi Luke.” Calum said, and the blonde smiled shyly in return. “I'm not going to finish this, do you want it?” 

Luke nodded and took the wrap from Calum. Ashton smiled to himself at the thought of his best friend making a whole new friend, even if it was a freshman. While Ashton had tons of friends, Calum tended to hang out in the background, so someone that was a little more shy but still very friendly would make a good addition to their circle. 

“So what are your blocks?” Savannah asked the table, pulling her purple paper out of her pocket. 

Harmony’s classes rotated in four blocks a day, with arts days on Mondays,Wednesdays,and Fridays and academics on Tuesdays and Thursdays. The school was inspired by Vygotsky's scaffolding theory, a portion of the block was spent learning new things, and then another portion was spent reviewing previous knowledge by tutoring someone in a lower grade, which ultimately benefited both students. The problem was seeing if your friends had the same block on the same day. 

After comparing charts, it looked as though Ashton had both English and Theatre blocks with Calum and Mitchie, Science block with Savannah, and Math block with Calum and Luke. Soon, other people started fluttering to the table and everyone was comparing charts. Soon enough, the bell was ringing to announce it was time to get to class, and Ashton turned back to where Calum had been sitting to walk to class with him, but he and luke were gone. Savannah was excitedly hugging her friend and they walked off to the arts building together. So Ashton just linked arms with Mitchie and they made their way into the main building for the first class of the day - theatre. 

“So, did Cass send you her blocks?” The small girl piped up as they made their way through the halls, panels of stained glass windows sending colors scattered against the lockers on the opposite side of the hall.

“Nope,” Ashton said with a hint of disappointment. “I actually have no idea where she is this morning.” 

Mitchie rolled her eyes, a sigh escaping her. “She’s probably going to skip all her academics just to stay in the Dance building.”

“Well she’s trying to get a scholarship” Ashton quickly defends. It’s what he’d been hearing all summer, and he knew how important it was. It was Cassidy’s senior year, unlike the rest of them she didn’t have much more time, it was her final year at Harmony and she had to find something else to do, Ashton understood why she didn’t have a bunch of time to hang out during the break. It only made seeing her when he did even better. 

“I know but i mean, it’s her senior year. she should be having fun with us.” Mitchie argued, flipping the argument on its side.

Ashton shook his head. “She’s having fun, just not with us.” He said, referring to the troupe of dancers who never seemed to leave each other’s side. They traveled the school in a pack, and Cassidy was one of them now. Intently focused on their art, and under a layer of sisterhood they were intensely competitive - after all, they were fighting for the same scholarships and Uni acceptance letters. 

The blonde looked up at Ashton, a deadly serious look on her face despite the funny little buns resting atop her head and the purple lipstick she wore.

“Dance is serious, Ashton.” She said, and then broke into a smirk a few seconds later. She was imitating something Cassidy had said a million times, and Ashton rolled his eyes fondly. His friend wasn’t wrong, Cassidy and her fellow dancers were way too intense for such a laid back school atmosphere. 

“I’ll find her for lunch” Ashton promised himself.

Just as they walked up the steps to large doors leading into the theatre, the warning bell rang out, signaling that if you weren’t down the hall from your class, you’d probably be late. As it rang out, Ashton saw someone run from the side exit door, and turned his head to see it was Luke. He laughed to himself, poor freshie. Late on the first day. 

Mitchie had let go of his arm and skipped into the theatre, so Ashton shut the doors behind him and made his way down to the stage for the start of his first block.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alright, that pretty much sets up this school that lives in my mind. I really like writing this story, it's like my stress-relief at the end of a long school day. I hope you enjoy reading it, and enjoy the original characters i'm bringing in (there will be more!)
> 
>  
> 
> Very important to mention - **Michael will be in the story from chapter 3 onward**. Very excited about who he is in this story guys :)))))). and of course, let me know what you think in the comments. Praise is nice, but constructive criticism is amazing :)

**Author's Note:**

> this is just a side project i've been thinking about. If you're interested in it or would like to know more, comment below or message me on tumblr. Thanks for reading!


End file.
